Cushioned race horseshoe



Nomz 1966 D. FERGUSON CUSHIONED RACE HORSESHOE 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Oct. 16, 1964 FIG.l

lNVEA/TOR I ATTORNEYS Nov 29, 1966 D. FERGUSON 3,288,223

GUSHIONED RACE HORSESHOE Filed Oct. 16, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR DAVID FERG SON tw/iy/ ATTORNEYS Uni fitat ice 3,288,223 CUSHIONED RACE HSRSESHOE David Ferguson, 7332 lefierson Ave. E., Detroit, Mich. Filed Get. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 484,303 Claims. (Cl. 1168-12) This invention relates to horseshoe construction and more particularly to an integral cushioned horseshoe adapted for race horses and race tracks.

Shoes are a critical item for race horses; ideally they should be lightweight, comfortable, adequately protective of the hoof, and provide track bite and footing under all racing conditions. The consistency of race tracks, normally comprised of mixtures of sands and clay, is relatively softer than the stalls of the barns, in most cases hard clay. With conventional race shoes having cleats, stall surfaces do not permit penetration of the cleats which forces the horse to stand with the front of his foot cocked up and frequently leads to soreness in the angle.

The present integral cushioned shoe is directed to provide a natural footing while standing on a hard-floored stall and a cushioned effect which is far superior to conventional solid metal shoes. The construction lends itself to a horseshoe formed as a steel sheet metal stamping having a continuous embossed cleat extending around the entire ground-engaging surface of the shoe and filled with urethane rubber composition bonded to the inside surface of the stamping, thus providing cushioned support for the horses hoof.

Alternatively, my present shoe construction lends itself to fabrication as a casting or forging having a continuous ground-engaging flange around the outer perimeter. In either case the flange provides a :bite for race track consistency and full-level support for the hoof in a proper, natural condition on harder clay soils or flooring and the upper side of the shoe is filled with integrallly bonded urethane rubber for cushioned support and attachment to the horses hoof.

The objects of the invention may best be understood by the following detailed description of alternate embodiments with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a ground-engaging face view of a racing shoe constructed as a casting or forging in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the hoof-engaging face of the shoe as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a ground-engaging face view of an alternate construction employing a sheet metal stamping; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of 1516. 4.

The ground-engaging face of the cast or forged shoe is provided with a flange 11 extending entirely around the outer perimeter of the shoe. A pair of ledges 12 extend part way around each side of the shoe inside the flange 11 with a plurality of holes 13 formed therethrough for horseshoe nails and a tapered inner wall 14 slopes to provide self-clearing action for any earth picked up by the shoe. With reference to FIG. 2 the hoof-engaging face of the shoe is provided with continuous inner and outer flanges 15, 16 connected by ribs 17 forming a plurality of pockets 18 filled with urethane composition rubber 19 to provide a cushioning hoof-engaging surface coextensive with the flanges 15, 16 and ribs 17.

It will be seen that the flange 11 provides a continuous sharp biting edge for penetrating and gripping the track coarse soil while providing a continuous surface parallel to the hoof-engaging face of the shoe for supporting the hoof at a normal level on hard ground or flooring.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the alternate sheet metal stamping construction incorporates a hollow steel stamping 20 having a pair of flanges 21 and 22 formed in the ground-engaging face thereof, together with a steep outer wall 23 and sloping inner wall to provide desired biting and clearing action for race track consistencies as well as level support on hard surfaces. In this case, the entire internal cavity of the shoe is filled with urethane composition rubber 24, bonded to the inner face of the shoe :by suitable means.

While two preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above in detail it will be understood that numerous modifications might be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A race horseshoe comprising a metal frame having a ground-engaging face and a hoof-engaging face, said ground-engaging face including a flange extending substantially around the outer perimeter at a level substantially parallel to said hoof-engaging face, said hoof-engaging face including a pair of spaced inner and outer upstanding flanges providing a recess therebetween, and a resilient composition material filling said recess and bonded to said frame, and terminating substantially at the upper level of said inner and outer flanges.

2. A race horseshoe as set forth in claim 1 including a plurality of integral ribs extending between said inner and outer flanges.

3. A race horseshoe as set forth in claim 1 wherein the metal frame is a hollow sheet metal stamping.

4. A race horseshoe as set forth in claim 1 where the metal frame is a hollow casting.

5. A race horseshoe as set forth in claim 1 wherein the metal frame is a forging.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 546,145 9/1895 Gibbs 168-12 646,029 3/1900 Long 168-12 846,082 3/1907 Bellmann 168-12 948,245 2/1910 Owens 168-12 2,705,536 4/1955 Phreaner 168-14 3,200,885 8/1965 Johnson 168-12 ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Acting Primary Examiner. 

1. A RACE HORSESHOE COMPRISING A METAL FRAME HAVING A GROUND-ENGAGING FACE AND A HOOF-ENGAGING FACE, SAID GROUND-ENGAGING FACE INCLUDING A FLANGE EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY AROUND THE OUTER PERIMETER AT A LEVEL SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID HOOF-ENGAGING FACE, SAID HOOF-ENGAGING FACE INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED INNER AND OUTER UPSTANDING FLANGES PROVIDING A RECESS THEREBETWEEN, AND A RESILIENT COMPOSITION MATERIAL FILLING SAID RECESS AND BONDED TO SAID FRAME, AND TERMINATING SUBSTANTIALLY AT THE UPPER LEVEL OF SAID INNER AND OUTER FLANGES. 